Source – newindianexpress.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state government to carry out in three months load test of a defunct flyover here, before demolishing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A division bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice A M Shaffique gave the direction on a petition by the Ernakulam-based Association of Structural and Geotechnical Consulting Engineers challenging the government’s decision to demolish and reconstruct the Palarivattom Flyover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The High Court directed the government to carry out load test in three months and submit the report before it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flyover has been shut for traffic since May after it developed cracks within a few years of its construction taken up during the previous UDF tenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government can select any agency to carry out the load test, the court said, adding the expense for it should be levied from the firm which constructed the bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last month, the High Court had directed the state government not to demolish it till further orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petitioner contended that the decision to demolish the bridge was taken without conducting load test to ascertain its structural stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government in September decided to rebuild the flyover, which has been closed for traffic since May after cracks and potholes surfaced within three years of its commissioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It had also ordered a vigilance probe into alleged corruption in the construction of the bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision to rebuild the flyover was taken after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held discussions with PWD minister G Sudhakaran and “metroman” E Sreedharan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sreedharan had suggested that the flyover be rebuilt and it has been accepted by the government, Vijayan had said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petitioner association claimed that the findings of Sreedharan about the stability of the bridge were wrong and he had recommended demolition without carrying out the load test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The association sought the appointment of an independent agency for conducting the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The construction of the 750-metre long flyover began during the Congress-led UDF government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was completed during the LDF’s tenure in October 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within three years of its construction, large cracks were noticed in the pier caps of various pillars of the flyover following which it was closed for traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vijayan had ordered the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to probe the alleged corruption in the construction of the flyover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retired Kerala PWD secretary T O Sooraj and three others — a top official of the company which constructed the flyover and two officials of a technical consultancy firm — were arrested by the VACB in connection with the case.<\/p>\n